AXIOO

Directed and Written by: Garry Valentino

Hey hey hey...

Finally i got the chance to meet you guys in words,

Some of you might have noticed that this is the first time I am writing an Axioo's blog. As a matter of fact, this is the first time EVER i get to write in a blog...yeep...shame on me...but there's always the first for everything ...right?

The reason I started to write is because last month, we, the producers, directors and photographers had a meeting in our beautiful, cozy, full of joy office, and David as our leader pushed us to start taking a step by step action beyond our limitations in this new year. So here I am with all the limitations that i have, hope u guys enjoy my blog

A little bit about Ryan and Hana. I don't know why, but every time i start thinking about this couple, I feel a warm breeze in my heart. Maybe because their love is so contagious, it's so delightful watching them talking, laughing and looking at each other. And not just in front of the camera, but they really.. really like to tease each other. And what I also love about them besides that they're very humble people and easy to talk with, is their sundanese accent, which you can hear in the movie...so sweet right?

So after meeting and getting to know them, I decided to go for a romantic video concept for their Same Day Edit (because I am a romantic guy :p). All we did is shoot them when they're playing in the garden and in the pool, put a great song and...guest what? The magic happens by itself!

When we were playing the same day edit video in their wedding reception... I'm the first to start having tears in my eyes (well, maybe right after Ryan). I can see him and Hana holding each other's hands with big smiles on their faces. At that point I know, that Ryan and Hana are not just tying the knot with each other, but they also succeeded in spreading their love to everyone who watches them... So I say: Let there be love in our hearts!

Cheers!!

Garry Valentino

Directed and written by: Yosep Sugiarto

My first impression when I met Hanssen is, he is a very cool guy, and Mercy is a very patient and full of smile girl, both of them are very charming. At first I thought they are a typically silent couple, but when I got to know both of them more, everything changed, Hanssen and I both love gadgets and photography, and Mercy loves to eat (a lot). They are very kind, easy going and loyal. We absolutely enjoyed our first day pre-wedding shoot in Bali with Paulus Hyu (our photographer). It's a privilege for me to have them as a couple.

The story of how they both met is because of a guy named Epen, he was the person behind this magical true love story. Mercyana, who likes to be called Mercy, is very smart, attractive/beautiful (she is very poppular in the university), and she is very talented in making artworks. While Hanssen is a gadget freak, loves to joke, fun, easy going, and he is good in taking picture.

One sweet story aside from their wedding, was once upon a time, Hanssen asked Mercy to go to Bandung, but when he picked her up, he brought her to the airport told her that they were actually going to Bali. The surprise didn't stop there, Hanssen gave more surprises, took her around Bali, treat her Spa, ate king crab on the sea shore, and visited some romantic places. Talk about a Romantic Getaway.

Once again Congratz Hanssen and Mercy!

Yosep

Directed by: Garry Valentino

FIRST blog in 2012! So a Happy New Year 2012 from the Directors, Producers, Editors and Cinematographers in the Video Department is appropriate! This is the 2nd Wedding Video from Garry's trip to Singapore towards the end of last year and we're very excited to post this clip for our first post in 2012.

This one is about the tale of two cities, Jakarta where Angel lived, and Medan where Jhonny lived and where distance is a big factor of them not being able to get to know each other at first, until Angel went to Medan for someone's birthday. That is when they are able to meet up, spend the whole day together and got to know each other better. Sparks flew that day, and although it's really unexpected, they fell for each other.

But this is also a tale of two signs, Jhonny who is a Scorpio and Angel who is a Gemini. Of how Angel was struggling because she believed that a Scorpion and a Gemini wouldn't be a compatible match. And yes, Angel is a true believer of Zodiac signs :)

THIS, is a tale of two hearts, where against all odds, Jhonny finally managed to make Angel fall in love with him, strong enough to convince her to leave faraway from her family to move to Medan with him. And the Gemini Angel, Love stung by the Scorpion finally said yes in Singapore.

And we were there to capture every moment.

Donny Effrien

One of my favorite chemistries in a wedding, besides the seemingly obvious, is the chemistry between the bride and her father. It always
warmed my heart when I witness a strong bond between a father and his princess. Being myself a father, I both look forward and fret leading
my daughter down the aisle. The feeling must have been mutual for most fathers out there.

Melissa certainly falls under the “Daddy’s Girl” category. Her dad completely adores her. Seeing both of them on stage during the

Directed by: Garry Valentino

We recently had a back to back destination wedding in Singapore. Garry V. directed both weddings and I should say he did a wonderful job in shooting the weddings and creating these footages. So, this is one of the two footages which we will be posting.

Stella is an Indonesian who lived in Australia with her family. There, she met with an attractive young man Albert who is a Singaporean in the campus that she was in. They were both studying to be doctors. In short, they fell in love.

Albert would later go back to Singapore to be a doctor, and Stella followed soon after, decided to spend the rest of their lives together, and the two doctors invited us for the biggest day of their lives. If we could summarize the wedding into a single word, it would be: intimate. And we absolutely love intimate weddings. Instead of a Wedding Planner, they had the family, relatives and friends help them prepare their big day.

Everyone played their part in giving the extra effort to make sure that the day would turn out perfect for the couple , so we wanted to also give a little extra effort in capturing their biggest day and summarizing it into a clip that they could enjoy in the evening. So, instead of just summarizing the morning til the afternoon, we edited everything up until their bouquet toss in their reception dinner and played their clip barely 30min after that.

Grats to the happy doctors. And thanks for trusting us in capturing your beautiful day, and especially for Stella for your willingness to jump into the pool with your dress on. And one last thing: "You may now kiss the doctor!"

Donny Effrien

Directed by: Garry Valentino

If you read our post some time ago of Willy and Mikeyani's Save the Date footage, you would have known that Mike is a very talented and super artistic fashion designer who designed her own wedding gown. I stayed and watched her drew the design of her dress and fell in love with how it looks on the paper, a real masterpiece sketched by the great artist. And I had to wait impatiently to witness the unveiling of this masterpiece on her wedding day. After two long weeks of waiting the day finally came.

I was anxious and excited to see whether the actual dress looks as good as the sketch I saw. And when I arrived at her hotel room in Four Seasons Hotel, I wasn't disappointed. The dress looks absolutely stunning on her, a real masterpiece.

But more important than the dress, and all the little details that they have put together, to me the best part was the fact that this two lovebirds are going to finally walk this journey together. Their lives were just brush strokes laid down by the Great Artist Himself. As individuals they have gone through many things in their lives which sometime they can't understand, because they can't see the great design yet. But circumstances have brought their strokes to cross path, and on this beautiful day their lives came together into a beautiful painting. The unveiling of a beautiful masterpiece.

Grats to Willy and Mike, may your lives together continue to be a beautiful masterpiece.

Cheers

Donny

Directed by: Donny Effrien

I'm a huge fan of small intimate weddings. Not that it's better, but I just like the intimacy of a small wedding that's really hard to get in a big huge wedding where the bride and the groom doesn't know half the people coming to their reception. So i'm very excited when i get to shoot Widha and Josh's small 90 people wedding, not in Bali, but in Pakubuwono Residence, Jakarta.

A little background story of the couple. Widha is the eldest of 3 very friendly and lovely sisters who share a very close bond towards each other. She met Josh, who's an Australian in Sydney, fell in love and decided to tie the knot in Jakarta.

Josh, is a very handsome Australian guy who's head over heels in love with Widha. The best part about Josh, is that he's willing to leave his hometown Sydney and live in Indonesia just to be with his wife.

Congrats to both of you. May your journey together be a sweet and everlasting one.

Donny

I first met Jenni more than ten years ago.  She was a highschool friend of my wife. Even though her visit to Seattle was short, I snapped many photos of our adventures together. I was just beginning to dabble in photogaphy back then.

Jenni struck me as someone who is extremely cheerful and upbeat. Someone who is generous with her smile. Someone that brightens the day and also the world around her. So I was both excited and honored when she wanted me to photograph her wedding in Sydney. I have always wanted to experience the pace and tradition of an Australian wedding.

By now I probably has heard the standard wedding vow thousands of times. Even then, everytime I see two couples holding their hands, looking deeply into each other and saying their promises to each other always touch my heart. And in the midst of that wedding vow, there's a line that says "to love and to hold..", now I can understand the first part which is To Love, but I've often wondered about the To hold part. Well, up until we shot Ricky and Erica.

Ricky and Erika were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. They fell in love at first sight, and after their first date, they were head over heels in love with each other. Ricky, according to Erika, is not only a very passionate, sober, hardworking, and kind person, but he is also a very tough guy. He is the type of guy that you can always depend on, and you can always count on Ricky to be there for, to help you in times of need and to hold you when you're down. He is the type of guy who will carry all your big luggages up many levels of stairs without complain (actually that happens during their pre-wedding shoot in Scotland). THAT, to me is a true practical definition of the line "to love and to hold". It's when you love that person so deeply, that you're always there to support and just give the assurance that you're there whenever your partner needs you.

So my congratulations to both Ricky and Erika for finding each other, for finding someone that completes you, for finding someone to love and hold you.

Cheers

Donny Effrien

Directed by: Garry Valentino

This time our team went to Bali to meet a very warm and friendly girl, Anita. We connected with her right away as she is an extremely easy person to talk to and we absolutely love hanging out with her. The thing that excites us most about Anita, besides the fact that she's such an awesome person, was that she's marrying Graeme, who's a Scottish. AND, Graeme and his bestmen, were going to wear Scottish Kilts.

What is a kilt?

A kilt is a traditional Scottish garment. It covers the body from the waist down to the centre of the knees. The overlapping layers in front are called "aprons" and are flat; the single layer of fabric around the sides and back is pleated. Yes, most people would call it a skirt :p just don't say it in front of Graeme and his bestmen. The best part about wearing a kilt, is that you are NOT supposed to wear anything under the kilt. So, you wear the kilt, and off goes the underwear. You just gotta let it hang.

Funny as it is seeing and shooting Graeme and his buddies put on their really expensive kilts (each kilt costs around USD.3,000) and taking off their underwear, the whole 'ritual' reminds me of what we do when we get married. All of our lives we have this security that protects us, kinda like our personal space that we don't really let others in. We live our whole lives having this security, this place that we can 'hide' in when everything else is in chaos. But when we get married, we accept this new person into our lives, and we gotta remove this protection and security, and kinda have to just let it hang out there. It's definitely uncomfortable at first, because we are so used of having this protection, this security, this personal space that we keep to ourselves. BUT, in order to make a marriage work, that is exactly what you have to do, give up the personal space, trust our lives to the person that we are marrying with, and kinda let it.. hang.

So, my congratulations to the happy couple. May you have a beautiful journey together as you discover more of each other every day.

Cheers

Donny Effrien